Back on the Grid

I have spent about a month avoiding my computer until today. I took my time doing the laundry, laid out in the sun wearing spf 100, and walked my dogs instead of logging into my clogged up email accounts. I just cleaned everything out today and I'm ready to be reachable by something other than my phone again. Taking a month off was definitely a welcome break after my most recent semester!

A Good Excuse for a Bad Habit

Typical college students are known for wasting money on things like pizza, video games, various caffeinated beverages, and let's not forget beer. Although I would never encourage underage drinking – anyone who is that desperate should study abroad and learn what drinking is to another culture – or drinking on UNK's "dry" campus, I am not opposed to all-night, off campus, legal beer and Rock Band marathons--as long as your neighbors don't turn you in for noise violations and you recycle all the aluminum you accumulate throughout the night.

It makes me sick to see cans that used to hold Bush Light or Redbull overflowing from trash bins in my neighborhood every Monday morning. Some foolish, unenlightened college students are throwing away hard-earned money.

Those beer cans are made of aluminum.

Andersen Wrecking Company pays people for aluminum.

Did no one ever teach these academic beer enthusiasts how to put two and two together?

My boyfriend and I don't host a lot of parties, but between the two of us, we consume enough beer, Coca-Cola, and Arizona Green Tea to fill an average-sized trash bag with aluminum cans every three or four weeks. That trash bag usually weighs one to two pounds, depending on how many cans we crush, and aluminum currently earns sixty cents per pound. That's almost a dollar a month.

It’s not an overwhelming amount, I’ll admit, but everybody likes making easy money.

However, we also called 308-233-3206 to get a free recycling container from the City of Kearney Sanitation Department.

The recycling containers and curbside pick-up are free to anyone who pays for trash pick-up, but there are also several public-access blue recycling dumpsters located in several places around the city including one next to Herbergers at the Hill Top Mall.

Those who don't pay for trash pick-up and don't want to look for Andersen Wrecking Company cannot claim they don't know where the mall is. Those who don't admit to shopping at the mall still have to venture to that end of town to buy video games...

If beer-drinking gamers drop off one two pound bag of aluminum cans at the recycling bin next to Herbergers once a month, they will donate approximately fourteen dollars to the City of Kearney in a year.

If they recycle two pounds twice a month, they will donate close to thirty dollars a year.

If they recycle two pounds of aluminum once a week, which might be feasible depending on how many roommates are involved, they will donate nearly sixty dollars to the City of Kearney every year. That's practically community service.

I am writing this for all the college students who have ever been called underachievers. Come on! Gather up your cans, choose your preferred method of recycling and call your parents. Tell them, "Mom, Dad, I did something good today."

For those of you who chose to seek out the wrecking company, say: "I cleaned my house, got rid of some things I didn't need anymore, and made a little money in the process."

For those of you who dialed a phone number or drove to the mall, say: "I recycled, and I made an unofficial donation to the City of Kearney today.”

All of you should follow up your parents’ stunned silence with: “Aren't you proud of me?"

Off-Campus Drinking by UNK Students Can Have a Positive Impact on Kearney

Typical college students are known for wasting money on things like pizza, video games, clothes, and let's not forget beer. Although I would never encourage underage drinking (If you're that desperate, study abroad) or drinking on UNK's "dry" campus, I am not opposed to all-night beer and Rock Band marathons--as long as your neighbors don't turn you in for noise violations and you recycle your aluminum and paperboard waste the next day.

It makes me sick to see beer cans and Bush Light boxes overflowing from trashcans in my neighborhood every Monday morning. Some foolish, unenlightened college students are throwing away hard-earned money.

Those beer cans are made of aluminum.

Andersen Wrecking Company pays people for aluminum.

Did no one ever teach these academic beer enthusiasts how to put two and two together?

My boyfriend and I don't host a lot of parties, but between beer, Coca-Cola, and Arizona Green Tea, we fill an average-sized trash bag with aluminum cans every three or four weeks. That trash bag usually weighs **** ounces and aluminum earns **** per ounce. That's **** extra dollars every month.

Everybody likes making easy money.

However, we also called 308-233-3206 to get a free recycling container from the City of Kearney Sanitation Department.

The recycling containers and curbside pick-up are free to anyone who pays for trash pick-up, but there are also several public-access blue recycling dumpsters located in several places around the city including one next to Herbergers at the Hill Top Mall.

Those who don't pay for trash pick-up and don't want to look for Andersen Wrecking Company cannot claim they don't know where the mall is. Those who don't admit to shopping at the mall still have to venture to that end of town to buy video games...

If beer-drinking gamers drop off one **** ounce bag of aluminum cans at the recycling bin next to Herbergers once a month...twice a month...once a week...they are donating **** dollars to the City of Kearney every year. That's practically community service.

I am writing this for all the college students who have ever been called underachievers. Come on! Gather up your cans, choose your preferred method of recycling and call your parents. Tell them, "Mom, Dad, I did something good today."

For those of you who chose to seek out the wrecking company, say: "I cleaned my house, got rid of some things I didn't need anymore, and made a little money in the process."

For those of you who dialed a phone number or drove to the mall, say: "I recycled, and I made a small donation to the City of Kearney today. Aren't you proud of me?"

Puppies and Pepper Spray on a Friday Night

A few days ago, I was walking home from class like I always do. I was nearly home when a white SUV drove by, made a U-turn at the end of the block, and came to a stop right next to me.

The young male driver asked if I wanted a ride.

Like any sensible young woman, I said "No thanks," and continued walking. The driver didn't persist, and before long I saw my boyfriend's truck in the driveway, so I didn't think much of it.

Tonight, the same vehicle - at least I think it was the same one - saw me walking my dogs. I was on the same block, in about the same spot as I had been the day the driver of a white SUV asked if I wanted a ride.



The vehicle circled the block, and I continued walking beyond my destination until I was sure that I wasn't being followed.



I reached my house after a roundabout walk that my dogs thouroughly enjoyed and I quickly unlocked my door, ran inside (dragging my dogs), and re-locked the door.



My head was spinning with thoughts of work and homework and "What the Hell is going on?"



After quickly text-consulting my boyfriend - Damn him for being out of town! - and all the friends I talk to when my brain is too mixed up to put two and two together, I googled Kearney's police department on my phone, selected the phone number, and made the call.



I'm sitting at home with my dogs and my pepper spray waiting for a policeman to come interview me...

My Brain is Turning to Mush!

There are only two weeks left until Spring Finals and my brain is spinning like it's in a blender. I'm incredibly anxious and all I want to do is stay up all night reading Sookie Stackhouse novels and watching True Blood until my eyes start bleeding.

I feel cornered, and I'm looking for safety in my new favorite series, but I can't seem to concentrate on anything I'm supposed to be doing, and I'm running out of time! "I'm freakin' out, man!" is the only phrase that truly captures my current frame of mind.

I have always been a bit of a procrastinator, but this week has been beyond rediculous. I am so ready for this semester to end that my subconscious mind is making my concious mind act like it's already over.

I know I'm in trouble when I start psychoanalyzing myself, but I can't help it. I'm lost.

It Could Happen to Us

Last Thursday, April 15th 2010, the University of Nebraska at Kearney staged a mock disaster drill, complete with "injured, bloody bodies strewn across the parking lot" (Kim Schmidt and Sarah Giboney, "Mock Disaster Explodes Across Campus," Kearney Hub).

Although the "accident" was staged to test the Kearney area's emergency response teams, the event seemed to hint at the upcoming Tri-Cities Blood Drive.

The annual Tri-Cities Blood Drive has taken place for the past five years in the YMCAs of Grand Island, Kearney, and Hastings. According to the American Red Cross website, the YMCA teamed up with the Red Cross to hold a blood drive right before "family vacation" season takes hold.

All the activities available during summer break make it easy to forget the horrifying news images of all the disasters that have taken place all over the world, particularly in the past four months.

Disasters don't take summer breaks.

Not all disasters increase the need for blood as the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, China and California in just the first two months of the year, the tsunamis that resulted from them, and the cyclone that ripped up the European coastline on the last day of February.

For example, a volcano in Iceland just erupted two days ago, Friday, 16 April 2010. Although many people equate the Red Cross with blood donation, Red Cross workers and volunteers provide much more than blood in their disaster relief efforts.

"The Icelandic Red Cross is sheltering more than 200 people...[has evacuated] about 700 people...[and] is currently assessing whether everyone in the disaster area still has enough food" (16 April 2010, American Red Cross Website).

However, the effects of disasters don’t simply disappear overnight. Members of the Red Cross from multiple countries have been present in Haiti since just after the earthquakes hit and they continue to help today.

They have already given Haitians temporary shelters, latrines, medical care, vaccinations, and "more than 21,000 units of blood" – and they intend to fund shelter, emergency relief, water and sanitation projects, grants and loans for families, and disaster preparation projects over the next three to five years (12 April 2010, American Red Cross Website).

Midwesterners are just beginning tornado season, hoping for “a mild one.”

People in the Southeast are approaching hurricane season and hoping that all those feisty water funnels stay as far out to sea as possible – they don’t want another Katrina.

Although people generally don’t like to think about deadly events, they cannot escape the fact that disasters happen and the people who are touched by them need help.

If UNK’s mock disaster had been a real disaster, every county in Nebraska would have held a blood drive – and a food drive – and a clothing drive – and at least one fundraiser.

Nebraska may not be touched by every disaster, but Nebraskans can always help those who are. If you can't give blood, give money; if you can't give money, give time.